LAHORE: Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) and elected members of other teachers’ bodies have announced that they would never compromise over the abolition of the condition of PhD for the appointment of vice-chancellors at public sector universities.
In a joint press statement on Thursday, FAPUASA Punjab Chapter President Prof Dr Javed Ahmed, Central Vice President Dr Shoaib, University of Engineering and Technology’s Teaching Staff Association President Dr Sohail Aftab, PU Academic Staff Association office bearers Dr Azhar Naeem, Syndicate members Prof Dr Sajid Rashid and Mahboob Hussain, Senate members Dr Zaid Mahmood, Dr Kamran Abid, Dr Abdul Qayyum Chaudhry and others said that they had conveyed serious reservations of academic fraternity in the meeting with Punjab Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Prof Dr Nizamuddin and Higher Education Department Secretary Dr Nabeel Awan at Lahore Board.
They said that according to new eligibility criteria, the research, administrative and academic experience of world’s renowned academics had been made equal to the director of any waste management company. They asked that how a non-PhD person could chair the meetings of Advanced Studies and Research Board in which PhD and high-level research matters were placed for decisions and how could he promote research culture who himself had never done research at a higher level?
The elected members of teachers’ bodies further said that all the teachers’ associations were on the same page on this matter. They said that the minimum eligibility criteria for appointment of a vice chancellor must be at least equal to the eligibility criteria for the appointment of a professor. They said that the government had asked them to submit their reservations in writing which they would submit next week after consultation with elected representatives of teachers’ fraternity.
They said that none of the elected representatives of the teachers’ community had been taken into confidence before the approval of such regrettable criteria. They said that teachers would not accept any such criteria until they were taken on board.